Judiciary

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen, a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee and a member of its Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, today questioned expert witnesses on marijuana policy at a hearing on "Marijuana Laws in America: Racial Justice and the Need for Reform."

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen, a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, today joined 67 House Members in asking President Trump to demand the resignation of Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta. Acosta was the U.S. Attorney for South Florida when he secretly arranged an extremely lenient plea agreement for billionaire Jeffrey Epstein after he was charged with trafficking underage girls. Epstein was recently indicted on similar charges in New York.

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, today observed the 55^th anniversary of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 and made the following statement:

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) reacted to today's 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court's decision not to resolve the issue of partisan gerrymandering by pointing to a Congressional solution to the problem: his H.R. 124, the John Tanner Fairness and Independence in Redistricting Act.

Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, today sent a letter to President Trump recommending he commute the sentences of non-violent drug offenders. See the letter here.

Trump last year commuted the sentence of Congressman Cohen's constituent, Alice Marie Johnson, who was serving a life sentence for a non-violent drug offense, at the suggestion of reality television celebrity Kim Kardashian.

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, presided over a hearing on "Continuing Challenges to the Voting Rights Act Since Shelby County v. Holder." The Act, repeatedly reauthorized on a bipartisan basis, most recently in 2006, was undermined by the 2013 ruling in the Shelby County case. The Act has not been reauthorized since the ruling because bipartisan support has evaporated.

In his opening statement Chairman Cohen said:

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, today questioned election law and Russian intelligence experts about conclusions drawn by Special Counsel Robert Mueller in his review of Russian meddling in the 2016 elections. See his questioning of witnesses here.